Inadequacy is the mother of invention

I thought to use my collection of lotus photos as teaching material, as a means of applying traditional brush techniques to a composition that was not derived from rote.

And I found another photo that I liked, 

and I happened to have some scraps of cicada skin Xuan handy, so I just grabbed a piece and started to paint on it. The translucent paper exudes an entirely different persona.

.

Upon examining the initial photograph and subsequent painting, as well as my second attempt, I became dissatisfied with the visual clutter of the paper.  This clutter was not due to an excessive number of objects, but rather the uniformity of values among all the characters in the painting, resulting in a flat and prosaic appearance.

Perhaps I should have anticipated the inclusion of blurred backgrounds to enhance depth perception, akin to the concept of bokeh in photography.

Alternatively, I could have painted the leaves with a lighter hue, employing a more diffused technique to simulate distance.  Additionally, I should have distinguished my main character, or protagonist, by making them as clear and vivid as possible, while allowing the supporting cast to gradually fade into the background.

I could experiment with this theory on my current painting, the one depicted on the cicada skin Xuan. However, I was uncertain whether my sloppy techniques would be sufficient to achieve the desired effect.

In a moment of inspiration, I considered the possibility of superimposing the translucent Xuan onto the other layer of paper. This technique would result in the objects on the second layer being muted by the top layer.

It looked wicked.  I was all for it!

I went ahead and mounted my two pieces together.  When the papers were wet, they were almost transparent, allowing everything to show through from under the papers. 

Opacity was restored after the papers dried.

The painting on the bottom was now quite subdued, contrasting with the one on top.  Layers in Photoshop must have been invented this way!

But then I realized one of the petals was washed out in the mounting process.  I must have loaded too much undiluted color onto my brush while I was painting the blossom.

Worry not, a little clever cropping could save my project. 

It was all in the packaging.  Now my painting had a lot of objects in it but didn't feel too busy for me.

I was able to cheat.

Mission accomplished.  Inadequacy is the mother of invention. 

Tired of painting from rote memory

Painting from rote memory is like painting from ether with a shackle.  Whatever image we have in our head is the carcass of countless times of emulation and practice.  Typically, we are taught a sequence of brushstrokes to describe the object that we are painting.  It can be a flower, an animal, a boulder, whatever.  Thumbing through the Mustard Seed Garden compendia and there's no shortage of such examples.  The inevitable downside of such practices is that we're indoctrinated subconsciously that these are the only correct, or acceptable way to paint.  As a student, it is a marvelous and methodical way to progress, not knowing that creativity and originality can sometimes be the suppressed.  

I ask myself, why don't I try to paint something real.  Not so much as en plein air but at least having some concrete reference points.  So I dig out my photographs of lotus plants and see if any of them fit the bill.

I have plates of dried-up color from past painting sessions that I commandeered for this exercise.  Too lazy to mix new colors.  Afterall this is just a fun practice exercise and color accuracy is not my concern. 

I know the color looks weird and not harmonious, but I'm not painting from ether either.  I am trying to paint what I see and not from a figment of my imagination or whatever rote memory is left with me. 

I'm now eager to try something a little more artistic.

Two lotus leaves reside at the bottom of my paper,

My reference photographs will be a blossom that is tilted to the right in this photograph. 

I like this particular flower because my lotus leaves are too evenly placed, being parallel to each other.  I need that tilted flower to create some motion.  The white petals also contrast with the dark leaves, sort of having a back-and-forth conversation.  The dark leaves are also flanked by light colored leaves just for contrast and perspective. 

I shift the stem of the flower to the extreme left, to accentuate the tilting of the flower.  I am also including a budding new leaf in the painting.  It is an interesting accessory.

The overall mood of the painting is represented by a rather subdued color scheme, aided by the pensive moon.

I do like the tone of this piece of work.  I am going to name it Nocturne.